All you need to know about Lotto

THE ONE. THE ONLY. THE ORIGINAL.

Saturday nights changed forever when Lotto was introduced back in 1994. Since then, it’s become the nation’s favourite game – played by millions in towns and cities across the country. Today, it’s as popular as ever, with thousands winning prizes in every game. As far as lotteries go, Lotto is the real McCoy.

So how do you play?

Pick 6 numbers from 1–59 or go with a Lucky Dip® for randomly selected numbers.

You can play up to 7 lines of numbers on each play slip and buy up to 10 slips at a time.

Choose to play on Wednesday or Saturday – or both, and then the number of weeks you'd like to play.

You can buy Lotto tickets online every day from 6am until 11pm. But remember, to play on a draw day, you'll need to buy your ticket before 7.30pm.

Good to know...

Draw Days

Play every Wednesday and Saturday.

If You Win...

We'll email you with the good news!

Play in Advance

Save time and play continuously by Direct Debit.

SEE WHAT YOU CAN WIN Δ

Number of matches

Prize

6 Main numbers

Jackpot *

5 Main numbersPlus the Bonus ball

+BB

£1,000,000

5 Main numbers

£1,750

4 Main numbers

£140

3 Main numbers

£30

2 Main numbers

Free Lucky Dip

Look out for those rolldowns

Lotto can only Rollover 5 times. The 5th Rollover is a Must Be Won draw.

Starting Jackpot

Rollover

Double rollover

Triple rollover

Quadruple rollover

Must bewon!

It could be a...

Jackpot Rolldown

If no one matches all 6 main numbers in a Must Be Won draw, the Jackpot will be shared by all cash winners [2], so they’ll win an even bigger prize.

For example, that could mean winning £100[1] for matching 3 main numbers instead of £30!

[1]Estimated , [2]Prizes are subject to prize capping. If the jackpot is not won in a Must Be Won draw, each winning prize tier will be allocated a percentage of the jackpot. More information about prize capping and Rolldowns are included in the Lotto Game Procedures

Different ways to check results

Check on the go

Use our App on your mobile to see if you’ve won. You can also scan paper tickets for instant results. Get it on Google Play or the App Store.

Here on the web

Watch the draw live

Watch all Lotto draws first on our website or YouTube channel at 8pm every Wednesday and 7.45pm every Saturday.

Want to know more?

What are the average jackpots, compared with the previous game?

Base jackpots on Lotto are £2 million on a Wednesday (up from £1.8 million previously) and £3.8 million on a Saturday (up from £3.1 million previously).

The jackpot grows as it rolls, and we expect Must-Be-Won draws to be around £11 million on a Wednesday and £12 million on a Saturday.

As the jackpot is now only allowed to roll five times under the new format (compared with the previous rules where it rolled up to £22 million), the jackpot will be won more often.

How does a Rolldown work?

If no one matches all 6 main numbers in a Must-Be-Won draw, the jackpot will no longer just go to a single prize tier as before (e.g. Match 5+Bonus).

Now, there are ‘Rolldowns’ where the jackpot is shared out through all of the winning cash prize tiers (Match 5+Bonus, Match 5, Match 4 and even Match 3), boosting each individual prize amount.

Each winning cash prize tier is allocated a set percentage of the jackpot and example prizes in a Rolldown are as follows (these are all estimated and will be based on the number of winners in each tier):

Match 5+Bonus Ball – £1.2 million (compared with £1 million)

Match 5 – £10,500 (compared with £1,750)

Match 4 – £500 (compared with £140)

Match 3 – £100 (compared with £30)

What are the odds?

The odds remain the same as they were previously, but the jackpot will be won more often because it is now only allowed to roll over five times (previously it rolled up to £22 million).

Why did you not change the price or number of balls?

Sales of the old £1, '6 from 49' game had been falling for a long time. As a result, so had the amount of money it was raising for Good Causes, which is ultimately what we’re here for.

Secondly, in 2015, we didn’t just add 10 extra balls – there were a number of other changes (for example, the ‘Millionaire Raffle’ and a free Lotto Lucky Dip® ticket for matching two main numbers). If we make a change to one part of the game, we have to consider the knock-on effects that would happen in other parts of the game. We need to look at the game in its entirety.

We’ve listened to what people (players, non-players and retailers) have told us and what they want from Lotto in the future – jackpots that will be won more often, with bigger cash prizes at the other levels. We believe that the improvements we’ve made will do just that.

Where has the money from the raffle gone?

All of the money has gone into the main draw.

We’ve listened to feedback and responded by taking Lotto back to its roots: focusing on the main draw and bigger, fixed prizes – so players will know exactly what they will win.

In addition, the jackpot will be won more often, the prize fund will be more fairly shared across all levels and we’ve added a new £1 million prize for matching 5+Bonus Ball (up from around £50,000 previously).

Have these changes impacted Lotto HotPicks?

There have been no changes to Lotto HotPicks prizes as a result of these changes – the new prize amounts apply to Lotto only.

The only change is that you can now only play Lotto HotPicks 4 weeks in advance.

Dream Big

Play Small

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Results
Although every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information containing National Lottery results, Camelot UK Lotteries Limited cannot take any responsibility for any errors or omissions. Prize winning and all aspects of the National Lottery games are subject to Games Rules and Procedures.

Number of winners each week
Average number of winners and millionaires each week based on National Lottery prizes won between April 2018 - March 2019.

National Lottery Projects
Since 1994, there have been more than 565,000 grants made – figures sourced from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. Around £30 million raised weekly is an average based on April 2018 - March 2019.

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